The National - Carin at the liquor store

Carin Besser might be very well the sixth member of The National. Married to frontman Matt Berninger, and being an editor by profession, she normally helps her husband with the lyrics of the band's songs. Her influence in the band is such, that they nicknamed her Yoko. And now, for the first time in their seven studio albums, Berninger uses her wife's real name in one of his compositions.

Berninger usually drop names of people within his lyrics, there are Joes and there are Jennys, but it's almost impossible to know if they are real people or just names that he invented for their archetype characters. There's even a Karen in Alligator, it's a clear reference to his wife, but it's not only until this track that he decide to present the object of his love with no reservations, by naming her, we can be sure that this is the real Carin. Or can't we? In the end, he might be very well playing another of his fictions to sing about something more universal than his particular love story. We can see Carin Basser exiting a liquor store in Ohio, it's a neat image, but as Berninger watches her, he remembers falling in love with her, he remembers the parties, the weekends with friends, and he remember messing it up and promising her that he'll be a better man, he remember passion receding. It's a particular story that belongs to Carin and Matt, but is a universal human love story that any two people that have been together for a considerable amount of time are prone to experience.

Yet, putting the piano at the centre of the song, makes it much more as a confession. The National are masters in orchestration, and know how to grow their songs without losing the intimacy they have. It's a beautiful love ballad from a band that keeps maturing and is still able to find new tonalities in their particular sound to keep talking about love in adulthood.